October 26, 2009

An open letter to the New Westminster Mayor, council, provincial & federal elected official and candidates seeking election in the current by-election:

As you all are aware, last Thursday New Westminster Environmental Partners held a screening of the critically acclaimed film The Age of Stupid. We were glad to see a number of your there and wish more of you could have made it out.

The film was well received by the sell-out crowd of over 130 people, and after the film we had a "first aide" session to help any viewers who needed to discuss more positive possibilities beyond the bleak future the film paints for our current course as a society. We were pleased nearly one-third of the audience elected to stay for this discussion session.

As part of this group discussion we brainstormed what the City of New Westminster has done right up until now to help combat climate change, and what next steps we can and must take. A number of these steps are not ones the city can undertake by itself and would require a commitment from higher levels of government to make them a reality.

We hope you will take a few moments to read through the notes from this discussion session and make a commitment to these vital goals to fight climate change as you campaign or act in your roles as elected officials.

If you have any questions or need clarification on any of these items, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Matthew Laird,
Director, New Westminster Environmental Partners
www.nwep.ca

Things done right by New Westminster:

• Crosstown Greenway
• Tight grid road system
• Narrowing of Columbia St/Road Diet
• Urban densification
• Walkable core
• Beginning roof top gardens
• Rain barrel program
• Composter subsidy program
• New municipal buildings LEED gold
• Anti-idling by-law
• Cosmetic pesticide ban
• NWEP formation!

What should we do next?

• Community gardens/local food security
• Say no to highway expansion -> transit instead
• Water metering
• Make sustainability accessible to all economic classes
• Use our electric utility to become a sustainable energy facilitator
• Engage youth
• Promote Zero Waste, not incineration
• Put density where is transit
• Ban plastic bags/tax on plastic bags/disposable fast food containers
• Decrease amount of solid waste/frequency of pickup
• Collect compost
• Increase building efficiency standards
• Allow use of more efficient fireplaces (building code)
• Bring passenger rail back to New Westminster (Amtrak)
• Promote district heating/passive solar heating/solar hot water (building code)
• tax incentives for sustainable energy
• Incorporate triple bottom line/Greenhouse Gas targets (provincial 33%) in all municipal projects
• Clothes line promotion for single family homes, forbid strata by-laws banning clothes lines
• Education!
• Host a sustainability fair
• Promote "One Day Vancouver" - adopt in New Westminster
• Car Free Days in New Westminster
• Incentives to have industry to clean up/reduce emissions
• Attract Green businesses
• Increase carbon tax
• Bike escalator up 8th St
• Complete our Greenway network including seamless Greenway along waterfront